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About Me

I am a wife, a mother, and a grandmother. I have always enjoyed needle arts and have been a quilter, and a teacher of quilting, for the past twenty years. I have periodically nurtured a small pattern business which I will introduce to this blog over time.

Monday, April 25, 2011

I found the picture of the chapel at Moffett Field in Mountain View California where we were married. There are a lot of photos of the base and of the blimps that used live in gigantic hangers in the Sunnyvale Library archives. One of the interesting things I found out there is that the area behind the alter is set up to revolve to reveal different alters representing as many religious beliefs as possible. Seems lovely to me. We attended many events at the base over the years including many air shows. Our day was sunny and breezy, a great day for beginning our lives together.

Standing with my father, waiting to walk down the aisle. We were both looking pretty young that day. I remember feeling pretty confident at this moment. My choice seemed so right.

Walking to my new life

I was pretty happy. Loved my dress. I had attended a wedding planning event at Emporium Capwells and knew I couldn't afford to buy a dress. That is where I saw the bell sleeve and decided to make my own dress. Scary, but I lucked out, I think. White bridal satin with a lace overlay, a small train and pretty white shoes. My bouquet was in the shape of a cross. I felt pretty.

This is the entire bridal party! Left to right, RosadaKoshak, my matron of honor and dear friend from high school. Next, the bride ( me ). Beside me the cute sailor I married and beside him my brother Robert, chosen to be best man

Saying our vows. Hmmm. I look ecstatic, he looks scared.

Too late to change our minds but no matter, fifty years later we both know the choice would always be each other. How lucky we are. Still in love after all this time.

This is one of my favorite pictures. I miss those hands. For the first couple of years we were married I did some hand modeling. Fun and good for the ego I think.

Remember, I am the oldest and this is my family, minus David who could not be there. So from left to right: Kenneth, Irene, Kathleen, Dad with Doreen in front, Me, Dale, my beautiful mother Dorothy, Robert, Ronald, Bill, and Mark standing in front of mom.

Oh, now he looks happy and not scared. Good move honey!

Dad, me,Dale and Mom

Me, Dale and his mother Marge Kelso. In the end it turns out she did not like me a whole lot but Dale told me from the beginning that I was his family and not to worry about being liked by anyone but him.

Nice couple, don't you think? We left that day in Dale's hunter green MG TF. We were cool in those days. Now, did we always agree? Of course not. Did we argue, even bicker at times.? Of course! We did however, always know that a marriage is work and a good deal of the time we were working. Right now is one of the working times. He is working so hard to get well and I am working hard to be sure he has all the room he needs to do just that. This is not easy for either of us, but worth it I think. The secret to a fifty year marriage if there is one, is that we never once gave up on each other, even at the low points. Thanks for coming by.

Dale and I were married May 7 1961 and this is where we spent our honeymoon. I was nineteen and he was twenty-two. Yes we were young but it was a different time. I am the oldest of ten and he was an only child. A match made in heaven as I didn't want ten children and he wanted two. Our wedding cost $129.00, my friend from high school was my matron of honor, we had thirty three guests and I made my own gown. Our honeymoon was three days long because we couldn't afford more, and I had to get back to my job as a hair dresser and he had to get back to Moffett Field Naval Air station. So we hiked, visited the waterfalls, witnessed one of the last fire falls and rubbed elbows with a black bear. We stayed in a two room cabin and loved every moment of our time in the park. If you have never visited this park, what are you waiting for. Yosemite was and remains a favorite destination. We had planned to revisit the park this year to celebrate our fiftieth wedding anniversary. Dale is not well enough so perhaps next year.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Just thought I would share my progress on the Aunty Green quilt. I was invited to join five Australian quilt artists and four American artists to reproduce our own version of this great quilt. I am sure that I am woefully behind my peers, but a promise is a promise. I have already written about the challenge of producing a decent oval. The vine is a bias stem and not especially difficult. The hardest thing about the leaves was their number. Ninety-six! Perseverance is the only way. Most of you would probably begin with the flowers within the oval and that would be my usual plan. However, I find that when some element is repeated as much as theseleaves are, I know myself. I would put it off for far too long. So I do them first. The small flowers inside the oval were made by cutting circles from a great print and gathering the fabric around a circle template. Pretty cute and easy to do. It does feel good to be quilting again. Happy Easter you all!!

Spring is a confusing season in the mid-west, at least for me. I am a dyed in the wool California girl. No apologies, none. As I sit here in late April I can hear the thunder that has been announcing yet another storm to worry about. The thunder has been continuous for the last twenty minutes. Spring? I don't know. This is another in a fairly long list of potentially dangerous weather patterns. However, the above picture is of a pretty little dwarf cherry tree visible from the back door of my home. Lovely, but doomed as the flowers are already fading and when the cherries appear so will the birds and I will be unable to stop the madness. Sorry, carried away because I also live in a part of town that is frequented by Japanese beetles!!! They like my Rose of Sharon, cherries, blackberries, hibiscus, and crab apple.

The Lilacs were pretty this year though, because I did not get to do fall clean-up last year, they were not as abundant as usual. The scent was lovely.

This of course is pink dogwood. The flowers you see represent about the number of blooms I have seen each year for the eitht years I have lived here. Two to three blooms seems about it.

But this year!! The whole tree was covered. Even the storms and winds could not diminish the abundance. Don't know what happened but going with the flow for now. This picture was taken a few days ago, but still beautiful.

This Japanese Maple has long been a favorite of mine. The beetles like this as well. Now I have a service to keep me from losing it every year. I get emotional about my flowers and trees. At the base of the maple is a large Knock Out rose which resists pests and in this case seems to come back overnight.The last two pictures are Anemones or Wind Flowers if you will. I have taken great care to exclude the weeds that still predominate the beds though between Therapy for Dale, grocery shopping and rain drops, I am beginning to make some head way and hope to have my usual display, though somewhat reduced. I have always thought of gardening as a very personal therapy. From the birth of a disabled child forty-five years ago to this last year watching my husband navigate his way through his toughest health challenges ever, I have longed to get my hands back into the soil. I hope you all have something that helps bring balance back into your life.

Now, as to whether there is Spring in Missouri, the jury is still out. However, for what it is worth, my own eight year observation suggests that it does come, but hurry to enjoy it because it is definitely fleeting. Sometimes I think the natives here just trying to be optimistic.